By Carlos Miller
DeLoyd Scott was riding his bicycle through a residential street in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho last year when he came across a group of officers making a traffic stop.
One of the cops stopped him and asked for his identification. He asked them if he was under suspicion of a crime. The cops said he was.
He refused to provide his identification until he was provided with “assistance of counsel” – which is his legal right in Idaho, according to the local news report.
That prompted the cops to wrestle him to the ground and use their Taser on him. Twice.
During the melee, he grabbed an officer’s flashlight and engaged in a verbal standoff with the officers, refusing to allow himself to be handcuffed until they provided him with assistance of counsel or at least called the local sheriff, whom he said had jurisdiction in that area.
Scott is clearly enraged and understandably so. One moment he was riding his bike down a quiet residential street and the next moment he was stopped, told he was under investigation and then Tased.
He ended up getting Tased several times more for a total of seven times.
Much of the incident was being filmed by Cory Temple, a neighborhood resident who happened to be filming the traffic stop.
However, the video is shaky. The lighting is horrible. And the editing is non-existent.
But the audio is loud and clear.
Especially the moments after the Tasering when the cops try to confiscate his camera as “evidence.” Temple refuses and the cops relent.
Now that video is a vital piece of evidence in a lawsuit against the Coeur D’Alene Police Department, which Scott filed in February.
What’s also alarming is how the officers approached Temple even before Scott rode up on the scene, telling him that although it is not illegal to film officers, many officers may end up fearing for their lives because “a lot of people produce cameras into weapons.”
Really?
These cops actually believe somebody would go through the trouble of converting a camera into a gun just so they can stand outside pretending they are taking pictures when their real intention is to kill a cop?
If somebody is crazy enough to shoot a cop at random, somebody is probably crazy enough to use a real gun without having to resort to constructing a James Bond-like weapon. After all, what difference does it ultimately make? A real gun is much easier to conceal than a bulky camera.
And I have yet to hear one story of this happening, so what news reports are reaching Idaho that are confirming this new trend?
“I’m just saying that it is not illegal to film but a lot of officers perceive it as a weapon,” the cop continues.
While it’s true that many cops are threatened by cameras, it is not because they discharge bullets but only because they document the truth.
To make sense of what occurred that night, it’s best to watch the video from the squad car dash cam before watching (or hearing) the video recorded by Temple.
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30 responses so far ↓
1 sickntired // Aug 7, 2009 at 12:12 AM
I tell you that the cops/police are the new gangs on the streets..
2 Bill Rhodes // Aug 7, 2009 at 12:45 AM
Scary. This is the craziest one yet.
3 Michaelk42 // Aug 7, 2009 at 4:25 AM
“What did you get?” None of his concern. Taking the camera as evidence my ass.
Refusing to produce “papers” on demand isn’t a crime and never should be. Sure as hell shouldn’t be something someone can be TASERed over.
I do wish guy would learn how to operate his camera though.
4 Nemo // Aug 7, 2009 at 7:52 AM
another instance of the taser being used as a tool of compliance. “Obey me or I will tase you!”
Disgusting.
5 Thor God of Thunder // Aug 7, 2009 at 8:29 AM
These thugs are a disgrace to the flags they all inevitably wear on their shoulders.
6 Arkie_man // Aug 7, 2009 at 9:19 AM
thats what he gets for riding a bicycle, shoulda had an SUV to prove how patriotic he is.
7 Rich // Aug 7, 2009 at 9:32 AM
I am so disturbed every day by more and more of these so called Policeman, Peace Officers, behaving like scared little men. When will this end?
Not any time soon.
8 NYCPhotorights // Aug 7, 2009 at 10:07 AM
More proof that tasers are being used to torture people into surrendering our rights under the law.
9 Andy // Aug 7, 2009 at 10:25 AM
what’s the matter with these citizens thinking they still have rights?
10 Rizzin // Aug 7, 2009 at 12:07 PM
On the “Gun disguised as a camera” thing, what I have heard from somebody else’s research into that exact subject and they found only 1 report of it happening. Police apparently used it to help end a hostage situation. I am guessing (but dont know for sure) it was something similar to the gun/camera combination used in the movie True Lies. Only reason in the world for something like that is to try and get a weapon past a physical search, not to just try and conceal it from view.
Anybody spouting such a line is having a hard time separating film from reality and grossly exaggerating on top of that.
11 Michaelk42 // Aug 7, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Basically cops who watch too many movies and think they’re in one then.
Too bad movies are the only place cops have to regularly turn in their badge and gun. And even then it’s only the good cops that do that.
12 Lorraine Sumrall // Aug 7, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Camera = Documentation of Truth
Truth = Weapon
Yeah, they’re right. The camera is a weapon, but the only thing it has the capacity to kill is a lie.
13 MacK // Aug 7, 2009 at 1:18 PM
The guy filming may have a terrible camera, and piss poor abilities, but I have to give him props for sticking to his guns when the cop wanted the camera.
14 Santee // Aug 7, 2009 at 1:19 PM
They were just trying out for the new TV show –
“Cops Gone Wild!
Fits the Bill –
No reason to detain or question,
No rights provide a minor -
excessive use of force-
And down right stupidity!
No Doubt the boy will be the villain here.
How freakin sad…
15 Jon Quimbly // Aug 7, 2009 at 3:16 PM
I’d appreciate hearing from any of the LEOs lurking nearby to comment on this case. Always worthwhile to hear the other side.
16 Jon Quimbly // Aug 7, 2009 at 4:11 PM
PDs in towns and cities around the country have been militarized, according to a Cato Institute report called ‘Overkill’.
If you’ve never read it before, buckle your seat belt and settle in for a wild ride. Photographer skirmishes with police are bad enough due to Constitutional issues, but some of the SWAT raids detailed in this report are way, way over the top.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476
I believe what we’re seeing with tazer and other use-of-force problems are due to creeping militarization. That’s what makes it all the more insidious, that it’s happening gradually, so we don’t notice it as we would if it happened overnight.
17 Excited-Delirium.com // Aug 7, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Sue them into the next galaxy.
Tons of taser info on my blog. All the taser fan-boy torn to shreds. Taser news from Canada. The taser’s “Curious Temporal Asymmetry”. Much more. Useful reference, I hope. 1200+ posts all linked to sources for fact checking.
18 Jon Quimbly // Aug 8, 2009 at 12:03 AM
Excited-Delirium.com,
Throughout all the discussions of tasers and taser-related deaths I’ve read, much of the pro-taser argument is centered on the “high voltage, low amperage” argument. The line of argument (as you know) is that tasers deliver such low current, they couldn’t possibly cause death.
Proponents present an assumed causality about electricity applied to humans, wherein only a high enough current will cause death, and that tasers are therefore incapable of causing death.
That’s a fail.
In pathology and epidemiology, the active factors contributing to a type of outcome are not always known – a simple example being aspirin.
So instead, statistical methods are applied to determine correlations in order to learn cause and effect, am I right?
Your posts about the ‘curious temporal asymmetry’ of the death of subjects occurring close in time to taser application are on the money, in this regard. This is the best way to fight against taser usage, with numbers.
Since taser proponents assert that tasers are incapable of causing death (instead it’s ‘excited delirium,’ caused by drugs, among other factors), it would be useful to learn about the death rates in individuals in or near police custody, who were later determined to be suffering from ‘excited delirium,’ for both cases: taser applied, and taser not applied.
Got any refs?
19 Pinandpuller // Aug 8, 2009 at 5:58 AM
It’s probably easier and more adviseable for photographers to mount tasers on their cameras-as a deterrent to the police.
Actually a better system would be to rig up a camera to emit an electric shock when someone other than the owner took control of it. Something similar to a dead man switch off a jet ski might work.
20 Mr. Ben // Aug 8, 2009 at 6:26 PM
Cops sure like to be aggressive.
This one came up yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xW_-bSxTyI&eurl 80+ year old Alzheimer woman gets a body slam. Yeah she apparently had a knife, but could also barely walk.
21 MoT // Aug 9, 2009 at 7:11 AM
Cops Gone Wild indeed! Where in the world did this “camera-as-gun” bullshit get started? Seriously who in their right mind would waste their time, as Carlos said, in building such a contraption! This is a clear sign that police departments nation wide are following some sort of “script” when it comes to dealing with photographic evidence of their crimes.
22 MoT // Aug 9, 2009 at 7:38 AM
Mr. Ben… Saw the video and you have to ask yourself what kind of a nation do you live in that slams an old woman into the pavement so hard to cut her head open. I mean… damn!!! She could barely walk much less attack anyone. What a shameful episode but even more shameful are the retarded comments from boot and badge licking statists. Now THAT is pathetic.
23 Excited-Delirium.com // Aug 9, 2009 at 11:47 PM
Jon asked “Got any refs?”
Hey Jon. Taser proponents use 2mA “average”. The RMS value of about 150mA has been expunged from the spec sheets. EEs know that averages are very often misleading.
Regarding the refs. The Truth…Not Tasers blog has been keeping track of the taser “-associated” deaths. There are now more than 435. This is about three times Oklahoma City bombing.
Based on the news reports, I believe there may be much more pre-taser time than post taser time. This assumes we stop timing when victims start to die.
If true, then there should be many many hundreds or even thousands of people dropping dead in the period after the taser is drawn and before the officer has a chance to fire it.
Even drawing a taser will generate a report in many jurisdictions, so where are the reports??
Taser critics have hot our list. It’s up to Taser International to find what probably does not exist. Don’t ask the taser critics to prove a negative. It’s the taser fan-boys’ turn to start tracking the body count on the BEFORE side of all the taser hits.
In my opinion, they’re screwed. Between the Canadian Braidwood Inquiry and the taser’s “Curious Temporal Asymmetry”, they must be squirming.
My blog has 1200+ posts on the subject. If you have a rebuttal, please check the blog first. It’s probably already been shredded.
24 Rob Molecule // Aug 10, 2009 at 12:49 PM
How about a Taser used as a flashlight? This picture is of a band playing a bar in Pittsburgh, when the police entered and held a taser to the guitarist’s forehead. Nobody realized he had a taser to his head until the picture was put online. I was there videotaping, and just assumed it was a flashlight. Amazingly, the cops ended up leaving and letting the band continue to play, but I don’t see how this is acceptable to put a taser to someone’s forehead, while they are just standing there.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v36/mummygun/radiobeatscop.jpg
25 ClintJCL // Aug 11, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Rights don’t actually exist if you can’t exercise them without being tased.
Where’s Jones? heh
26 Steve // Aug 11, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Rob, did you send that photo to any local media outlets? Why were the pigs there in the first place? To harass kids? An official swine sport btw.
27 mike // Aug 15, 2009 at 7:44 PM
Truly disgusting. Someone needs to stop them. Just think how long this has been happening. I am glad these events are being brought to light. Every man, women, and even child should carry around a camera.
28 Regina // Apr 30, 2010 at 11:27 PM
This very scariest thing…:( It should not need too much use of stun gun
if your opponent / criminals already be defeated.
29 Amazed // Aug 14, 2010 at 7:08 AM
I am shocked that the people of Idaho put up with this thuggery. These Nazi’s should be asked to leave Idaho by it’s good citizens.
30 Fred // Aug 20, 2010 at 4:04 PM
Update: http://www.krem.com/news/local/Federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-over-traffic-stop-moves-forward-100312699.html
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